Reverse-lever-latching mechanism.



C. L. HEISLER.

REVERSE LEVER LATCHING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 5. 1913.

1,140,743. Patented May 25, 1915.

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[H5 NORRIS PETERS C0,. PHGTOI ITHU., WASHINGTON, 0 c

CHARLES L. HEISL-ER, OF SGHENECTADY, NEW YORK.

REVERSE-LEVER-LATCHING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1915.

Application filed November 1913. Serial No. 799,258.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. HEISLER, of Schenectady, in the'county of Schenectady and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Reverse -Lever Latching Mechanism, of which improvement the following is a specification.

U My invention relates to reverse levers for steam engine valve gears, and its object is -to provide simple'and effective means for connecting a latch block to a manually operable latch handle; preventing rattling and undue wear; and insuring the automatic locking and unlocking of the latch block, with and from the quadrant, as desired, and its positive engagement therewith to prevent its accidental release by vibrations or stresses from the valve .gear or the motion of a locomotive.

The improvement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1- is a side view, partly in section, on the line a a of Fig. 2, of a reverse lever, illustrating an application of my invention; Fig. 2,-a view of the same, taken at a right angle to Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a view, similar to Fig. 1, but with the latch handle and locking trigger in section on the line b b of Fig. 2; Fig. 4., a partial longitudinal section, on the line 0 c of Fig. 1; Figs. 5 and 6, transverse sections, on the lines d (Z and e 6, respectively, of Fig. 1; Fig. 7, a side view, in elevation, of the handle locking trigger and spring; Fig. 8, a view of the trigger, taken at a right angle to Fig. 7 and, Fig. 9, a transverse section, on the line 7 f of Rig. 2.

My invention is herein exemplified in con: 'nection with a locomotive engine reverse lever, 1, which is fulcrumed, at its lower end, on a fixed pin, and coupled, near its middle, to a reverse gear. These connections being of the ordinary constructions, and not constituting part of my present invention, are not herein illustrated. The reverse lever operates, in the usual manner, in connection with a notched quadrant or segment, 2, only a portion of which is shown in the drawings. The quadrant, 2, on which there is formed a plurality of teeth, 2*, passes through a transverse slot, 1*, in the reverse lever, said slot forming a housing for a latch block, 3, having, on its lowerend, a plurality of teeth, 8*, which are adapted to engage with the teeth, 2 of the quadrant. The latch block is held in the slot, 1 with the capacity of longitudinal sliding movement therein, by cover plates, 5, which fit against the sides of the reverse lever, and are secured rigidly to the latch block by a bolt, 5 which passes through the plates and block, and is tapped into one of' the plates and provided with a nut, 5", which bears on the outer side thereof. The plates are thereby effectively locked to the latch block, after being adjusted to take up wear, or to secure a close sliding fit on the sides of the reverse lever forresisting lateral stresses exerted thereon from the valve gear. The cover plates are additionally secured to the latch block by short dowels, 5. The latch block is depressed to engage the quadrant, by two latch springs, 6, which fit in pockets formed in the latch block, and projecting upwardly therefrom, bear against the upper end of the slot 1 of the reverse lever. A latch handle, 7, is pivoted, as hereinafter described, to the reverse lever, 1, a sufficient distance below its upper end to permit it and the reverse lever to be grasped by the operator, and is coupled to the upper ends of a pair of connecting links 8, the lower ends of which are coupled to the latch block by a pin, 8*, which is held in place by its ends being covered by the walls of the slot, 1-. It will be obvious that, if desired, .a single link may be used, but a pair of links, as shown, is preferable.

In order to insure proper engagement of the links, 8, with the latch block, and provide a simple inclosed compact and direct connection therewith, longitudinal slots, 1", are milled in. the reverse lever, and corresponding registering grooves are cut in the adjacent sides of the latch block, so as to permit the insertion, from above, of the links, 8, into engagement with the grooves and the coupling pin, 8 To permit the ready insertion of said pin, the distance from the top of the latch block to the upper end of the slot, 1 is made somewhat greater than the distance from the bottom of the hole for the pin to the bottom of the slots, 1 The normal lift of the latch block,

the springs, '6, until the block reaches the upper end of the slots, 1 which admits of the ready removal of the links, 8, and coupling pin, 8, The parts are assembled by a reversal of these operations. It will be seen that so long as the links, '8, are 'connected to the latch handle, 7, they =c'annot become disconnected from the latch block,

for the reason that the pin, 8 cannot be lifted sufiiciently high by the latch handle,

to clear the side walls of the slots, 1 and pass out laterally through the longitudinal slots, 1 v I i I The latch handle, '7, is provided, at its lower end, with a slotted heel, 7 which is pivotally connected to the reverse lever, 1, by a handle pin, 7 in the usual manner, and the upper ends of the connecting links, "8, are coupled to the latch handle by a link pin, 8", which passes through short slots in the heel of the latch handle, for the purpose of permitting a small predetermined -de-- pression of the handle toward the lever, before lifting the latch block. A double armed trigger, 9,is-fulcrumed on'a pin, 9, fixed-on the heel of the latch handle, between and parallel with the pins, 7 and 8 its upper arm engaging a locking notch which is cut in the adjacent side of the reverse lever, above the handle pin, 7 the lower-edge of said notch being curved concentrically with said pin, so that the trigger will'cont-inue to abut against the lever, when the handle is swung farther away therefrom than the position shown in the drawings,as may be'occasioned by the wear of pivoted members. A spring, 10, bears, at its upper end, on the latch handle, and, at its lower-end, on the upper arm 'of the trigger, and acts to hold the trigger in position against the notch of the reverse lever, "for the purpose of preventing rattling, and for holding the latch handle in the normal position shown, when the latch block engages the quadrant. In order to provide a pivotal bearing-for the lower end of'the springfan ordinary round headed rivet, 10 is inserted therein, its head resting in a corresponding socket'inthe trigger. The lower arm of the trigger is divided into two tails or projections, 9 and 9, one of which, 9', extends substantially parallel with the adjacent side of the re- .block I spring,

gaged by the-bottom of the slot in the latch handle in which it is fitted, the trigger moves away and free from the locking notch of the reverse lever, in which it normally fits, by reason of the engagement of its tail,

9, witl the link pin, 8 which, as before stated, remains stationary until it is lifted by engagement with the bottom of the slot. Further movement of the latch handle toward the reverse lever 'efiects' the upward n'iovement of the links, 8, and latch block, 3

When the upper end of the latch handle comes into contact with the reverse lever,

"the upper arm of the trigger will be de-' pressed against the spring, 10, and the lever handle, and will remain so because "the socketed bearing of the lower end of the spring has moved back over the trigger pin, 9. Prompt return of the trigger into its normal position in the locking notch of the reverse lever, will be effected by the contact of its tail, '9", with the lever; V o

The disposition of the spring, 10, and its socketed bearings in the trigger, V to the trigger pin, 9*, and the latchhandle, '7, reduces the resistance thereof to zero, at the time when the resistance'of the "latch 6, is at its maximum, and the latch block 1s free from the notched quads rant, thereby ;providing an easily operable latch, and effective 'means for lockrelatively ing and preventing rattle when in enj gagement with the quadrant, As clearly shown in the drawings,- the bolt, 5

is disposed directly above the teeth of -the latch block, and as near thereto as possible,

in order to be close to the application of stresses to the latch block and capable of effectively taking the stressescoming upon the'blo'ck from the quadrant. The springs, dowels, and link lioiiplgng pin are located directly above the o t, p o

I claim as myinvention and desire to secure by Letters Patent: I

l. The combination with a fixedquadrant, of a lever having a thickened portion with a transverse-slot formed therein and through which said quadrant passes, a latch block slidably mounted in said slot longitudinally of the lever, longitudinal groove formed inits side and intersectin'g'said slot, a latch handle pivoted to the upper end of said lever, a link connecting said handlefto said block and running in said groove,and a pin connecting said thickened portion having a.

110. up wear and resisting 1,1ao,74a

said link to said block, the ends of said pin playing between the walls of said slot.

2. The combination with a fixed quadrant, of a lever having a thickened portion with a transverse slot formed therein and through which said quadrant passes, a latch block slidably mounted in said slot longitudinally of the lever, said thickened portion having a longitudinal groove formed in its-side and intersecting said slot, a latch handle pivoted to the upper end of said lever, a link connecting said handle to said block and running in said groove, and cover plates engaging the faces of said thickened portion to maintain said block in said slot.

3. The combination with a fixed quadrant, of a lever having a thickened portion with a transverse slot formed therein and through which said quadrant passes, a latch block slidably mounted in said slot longitudinally of the lever, said thickened portion having longitudinal grooves formed in its sides and intersecting said slot, a latch handle pivoted to the upper end of said lever, links pivoted to said handle and running in said grooves, a pin connecting the lower ends of said links to said block, the ends of said pin normally engaging the sides of said slot below the bottom of said grooves, and spring means tending to press said block into engagement with said quadrant.

4. The combination with a fixed quadrant, of a lever having a thickened portion with a transverse slot formed therein and through which said quadrant passes, a latch block slidably mounted in said slot longitudinally of the lever, said thickened portion having longitudinal grooves formed in its sides and intersecting said slot, a latch handle pivoted to the upper end of said lever, links pivoted to said handle, the sides of said block also having grooves for the reception of the lower ends of said links, a pin connecting said lower ends to said block and normally lying below the bottom of the grooves in the lever, cover plates for the ends of said slot to maintain said block therein, and springs between the top of said slot and said block tending to maintain it in engagement with said quadrant.

5. The combination with a fixed quadrant, of a lever having a thickened portion with a transverse slot formed therein and through which said quadrant passes, a latch block slidably mounted in said slot longitudinally of the lever, springs between the top of said slot and said block, manually operable means to raise said block, cover plates fitting over the ends of said slot, a single bolt securing the lower ends of said plates to said block, and dowels securing the upper ends of the cover plates to said block, whereby a close sliding fit can always be maintained.

6. The combination of a reverse lever having a locking notch, a, quadrant, a latch block fitted in the reverse lever and adapted to engage the quadrant, a latch handle pivoted on the reverse lever, a link coupling said handle to the latch block, a trigger pivoted to said handle and adapted to engage the locking notch of the lever, and means coupling the trigger to the link and adapted to disengage the trigger prior to the lifting of the latch block by the handle.

7. The combination of a reverse lever haV- ing a locking notch, a quadrant, a latch block fitted in the reverse lever and adapted to engage the quadrant, a latch handle pivoted on the reverse lever, a link coupling said handle to the latch block, a trigger pivoted to said handle and adapted to engage the locking notch of the lever, a spring bearing on the latch handle and trigger and acting to press said trigger into the locking notch, and means coupling the trigger to the link and adapted to disengage the trigger prior to the lifting of the latch block by the handle.

8. The combination of a reverse lever having a locking notch, a quadrant, a latch block fitted in the reverse lever and adapted to engage the quadrant, a latch handle pivoted on the reverse lever, a trigger pivoted to said handle and adapted to engage the locking notch of the lever, a link coupled to the latch block, and a pin passing through a slot in the latch handle and coupling said handle to the link, said pin bearing on the trigger-and being adapted to permit a small predetermined movement of the handle and eliect the disengagement of the trigger prior to the lifting of the latch block by the handle.

9. The combination with a quadrant, of a lever having a transversely disposed slot formed therein, .in which said quadrant has a sliding fit, said lever having a longitudinal groove which runs into one of the side walls of said slot, a latch block slidably mounted between the sides of said slot above said quadrant, means for normally maintaining said block in engagement with said quadrant, a manually operable latch handle on said lever for raising said block, and a link connecting said handle to said block and having a sliding fit in said groove.

10. The combination with a reverse lever, a latch block carried thereby, a handle pivoted on said lever, and link connections between the same, of a trigger pivoted on said handle and engaging said lever, and a spring engaging said handle and said trigger in such a way that the resistance it ofi'ers to the movement of said handle diminishes as the latter approaches said lever.

11. The combination with a reverse lever, a latch block carried thereby, a handle pivoted on said lever, and link connections between the sameQof a trigger pivoted t6 said pivot when said handle is firefight up to said handle and engaging said lever, and a comlever.

pression spring runnin substantial-1y longiv tu dinal1y of said handf and bearing on said CHARLES HEISLER' 5 trlgger to one side of the plvot of the laiz- WVitnesses':

ter, when the handle is in its non-ma l posi- I. SCHAU'BER,

tlon, and substantially in line With said J. APPS,

Cables of this patent my be ,qbtained tor fiver cents each, by addressing :the Commissioner of Patents,

ilhmmhizmton, 1). .0." 

